Author: Simas

More or less right from his emergence to the European basketball scene as a youngster, Dovydas Redikas has been known as quite a character. As many Vilnius nightlife participants would attest, the combination of girls, parties and alcohol often found themselves higher on the priority list than basketball.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that once touted as top-class talent, Redikas was now trying to revive his career in BK Jekabpils, a mid-table club in Latvia. However, it is most certain that we will soon be talking about this short Latvian stage of the 22-year-old’s career in a past tense as well.

Juris Bobrovs, the director of the team, saw it was only reasonable to give the player a couple of days off. The club even bought an obituary in the newspaper and sent a representative, with a mourning wreath, to the funeral in Kuršėnai.

Only there was no funeral.

“We tried to understand him. We wanted to give him time to deal with it psychologically. We actually did even more than is usually expected in these situations,” Jekabpils’ coach Edmunds Valeiko told Lietuvos Rytas. “But then we found everything out.”

Obviously, after an incident of such levels of folly, fence-mending is out of the question. The player’s agent and the club are talking about the terms of release.

One of the most notable players for St. Mary’s in the past couple of years, Omar Samhan, has had a rough start of his pro career with plenty of challenges throughout the big man’s first year in Lithuania, where he represented the country’s champions Zalgiris.

The bubbly personality that Samhan is didn’t seem to have taken a hit mentally despite barely getting any playing time and continuously being ridiculed by some fans. The always-upbeat player just kept on smiling and living what he called a dream.

Apparently, living a dream included crashing three cars, wearing shorts in the cold Lithuanian winter and enjoying the night life of Kaunas quite often. Well, at least the last one is understandable.

Although the good-timer was truly having a good time in Kaunas, the club officials weren’t as happy. They had agreed that the player would arrive early for the new season and start working out with the team’s youngsters.

However, the promise was forgotten and the player postponed his trip to Lithuania from the beginning of July to early August and instead of trying to bounce back from a very poor season was having fun in the other side of the pond.

The decision to go solo on his decision might end up costing Samhan a roster spot in Zalgiris for next season, as the club’s management is considering sending the 22-year-old American to KK Kaunas, basically, a farm-team for Zalgiris.

The reaction from the club’s fans has been interesting, as fans of Zalgiris let Samhan know that they aren’t too pleased with how the big man behaved.

That’s a lesson for you – don’t add people you don’t know on facebook. Anyway, I love the way Samhan reacted by using his go-to move: a huge smile and just a genuine laugh. He just doesn‘t give a damn, does he?

You know what? Jonas Valanciunas is kind of amazing – 26 points and 11 rebounds in his first game representing Lithuania internationally at senior level. Below are a couple comments from some Lithuanian basketball experts.

Steponas Kairys (basketball agent): “He’s a player of a special talent, but there are some worrying things. First of all, I don’t understand why coaches that are working with him haven’t taught Jonas to use his body in the post. He does everything else very well, but just doesn’t have the know-how of using his body to fight for position in the paint – both offensively and defensively. I can’t get my head round why a player of such talent hasn’t been taught this.”

Sergejus Jovaisa (ex-player, coach): “Let’s just wish he keeps playing like this. He has played a single good game so far and not against the best opponent. That doesn’t take anything away from Valanciunas’ performance. I think Valanciunas should make the final roster [for EuroBasket]. If he wouldn’t, the whole Lithuania would rebel against [coach] Kemzura. Wherever one looks, Valanciunas looks great. He should find a spot in this team.”

KAUNAS – The legendary Lithuanian center Arvydas Sabonis has decided to put his name forward as a candidate in the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LKF) presidential elections. The best Lithuanian player of all times will be trying to help the country’s basketball from another angle.

The news didn’t come straight out of the blue, as there had been many speculations about the topic. You could start with Sabonis being the official ambassador of EuroBasket 2011 and end with Vladas Garastas, the current President of the Federation, expressing his view that Sabas would be a perfect fit.

“I’m going to offer Sabonis to replace me. I think his answer should be positive and everything will be alright,” Garastas, who is known to speak what’s on his mind, said already a couple of months ago.

It seems that Sabonis did need some convincing from his former coach, but the big man had been coming into the public eye more and more recently anyway. Quite unlike the quiet and unnoticeable Sabonis, who seemed to be rather disconnected from the country’s basketball life the past couple of years.

“It’s a pretty bold move. A decision like this was a nice surprise for our generation,” another legendary Lithuanian player Sarunas Marciulionis, said, adding that a tough road awaits Sabonis, with whom Marciulionis has achieved many victories together.

It will indeed be different for Sabonis. Although the most known man in Lithuania has already been living between Kaunas and Malaga, where his family has settled, the new post would mean more time away from his wife and kids.

Having put his name in the kettle, Sabonis explained that the most important thing for him is creating the best opportunities for developing the country’s youth.

“We need to give more attention to the coaches. No one can work properly with the money coaches are getting now. Many of our specialists leave abroad. From my own experience I know, that soon we won’t have anyone to develop or youngsters,” said Sabonis, the only candidate, who has officially declared himself for the elections.

It might very well be that the legend will remain the only candidate in the race, but even if that wasn’t the case, the outcome is pretty clear anyway, as no one can even come close to matching the authority of Arvydas Sabonis, a man who has the greatest respect from people all over Lithuania.

VILNIUS – After four seasons at Lietuvos Rytas, the 23-year-old Lithuanian guard Martynas Gecevicius will be moving to Piraeus. It was announced that Olympiacos bought out the remaining year of the sharpshooter’s deal with the club from the Lithuanian capital for €250,000, a price-tag named in the player’s contract.

Although it was always likely that Lietuvos Rytas would try to get something out of losing Gecevicius rather than just allow the contract to run out, multiple reports had suggested that Lithuanian starlet was close to extending the contract, which would have delayed the player’s departure until after the upcoming season ended.

However, the player decided not to stay in his hometown Vilnius and chose Olympiacos, a team that started a rebuilding process, but, according to Gecevicius, will be a big step forward in the player’s career.

“The budget won’t be as big as it used to be, but the club isn’t bankrupt either. They’ve got money. It’s a great team and it’s a great chance for me,” said the player, who was the key player for Lietuvos Rytas the last two seasons.

Gecevicius had the second successful season in a row and proved himself as one of the most deadly shooters in Europe. The guard averaged 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in Euroleague for Lietuvos Rytas, who were a win away from reaching the playoffs.

It is still a while before the talented player will need to start worrying about his new role in Piraeus, as Gecevicius is now working out with the Lithuanian national team, which still hasn’t finished the selection process for EuroBasket 2011, which the country is hosting.

Although most of Lithuania will be long asleep, many of the country’s die-hard basketball fans will bear the consequences of not enough sleep on the night of the NBA Draft. It will be 02:00 in the morning in the small Baltic state when the draft tips-off and no TV station will be broadcasting the event, but it will still draw a huge following almost 7000 kilometers away from the Prudential Center in Newark, where the draft will be held.

A large number of devoted Lithuanian basketball fans will be glued to their computers following what could be the best pair of Lithuanian players – Jonas Valanciunas and Donatas Motiejunas – going in the same year’s draft for a long while. The fact of the matter is that the Lithuanian impact on the NBA has bubbled out during the past years with Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ best years long past, Linas Kleiza not fulfilling fan expectations in Toronto and Darius Songaila – yes, he still was in the league last season – had a smaller role for Philadelphia 76ers than the team’s janitor. The two talented youngsters have the chance to make the league important back home in Lithuania again.

What is indeed amazing is that two players from a small nation with a population of just over three million could very well be looking at having both of the players drafted in the lottery. There are no questions about Jonas Valanciunas, but Donatas Motiejunas’ stock has been on the slide, once again, when it matters the most. The crafty Lithuanian decided to pull out of the draft last year feeling that the chances of being selected higher were better this year. However, it wasn’t the case, as Motiejunas wasn’t even among the 14 players invited to the Draft Green Room and will have to watch the draft as a regular spectator in Chicago, where his agent Herb Rudoy is based.

With a successful season in Euroleague under his belt, Valanciunas took away Motiejunas’ title as Lithuania’s next-big-thing and didn’t look back. What has been a huge mistake by many people, who haven’t actually seen both players in person, is the fact that they tended to look at them as players from the same mold. The last statement couldn’t be more wrong, as you literally couldn’t find two more contrasting big men in the entire draft.

There probably isn’t a craftier big man than Motiejunas – or as Italians call him, Moti – in this draft. Watching the lanky power forward on offense is a treat – a guy that big with such good ball-handling, court-vision and passing skills is very rare. In the eyes of many Americans, Motiejunas would define a stereotypical European big man, who is soft, doesn’t like to play defense and relies on his outside game much more than actually playing in the post.

The most worrying thing for Motiejunas, was the mindset and work ethic problems, even lack of desire and passion for the game of basketball, which was pointed out by many experts both in Lithuania and Italy, where he has spent the two last years. From early age, the power forward was abundantly superior to his opposition and relied on talent opposed to hard work to achieve goals. In fact, you couldn’t blame him much, as everything indeed seemed to be going very well until, of course, he met bigger and stronger guys after the move to the Benetton Treviso in the Italian Serie A. You could put all of these Motiejunas’ flaws and transfer them letter-by-letter to the column with Valanciunas’ advantages. They are that different.

Picking up Valanciunas in the draft wouldn’t hurt any team. And not only because he’s hard-working effort guy, but also because the 19-year-old –as his game is now – doesn’t require many touches to be efficient. As bad, as his screens are now – they will definitely improve when his frame fills out – he sets them willingly and his quickness is enough to make Jonas a successful pick-n-roll player. Rebounding has always been one of the stronger parts of Valanciunas’ game and leading the Euroleague in Total Rebounding Percentage at 22.7%, which is comparable to Kevin Love’s 23.4% in the NBA, should end any doubts there. Most of Valanciunas’ points will come after second-chance opportunities or pick-n-rolls, but something he has been working with his coaches in Vilnius was his back-to-the-basket game, which still needs lots and lots of polishing.

The biggest worry for Valanciunas comes off the court and doesn’t actually depend on the player himself. It’s Valanciunas’ buyout – or lack of it ­– that has been causing headaches for NBA teams and the players’ agent, who has been trying to negotiate the terms of a buyout with his current team Lietuvos Rytas. From the looks of it, it’s not likely that the actual buyout would be less than $3,000,000 and therefore the majority of it would have to be paid by Valanciunas himself. According to the big man, it’s not something that would stop him from moving to the US already next year if the team that drafted the center would want to see him in the other side of the pond.

Valanciunas is two years younger than Motiejunas and is at the same position where Donatas was two years ago – at the age of 18, they both played in the Lithuanian league. For Motiejunas it was the first season in the country’s top flight, but the left-handed big man already led a lowly Aisciai Kaunas side with 19.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in an average playing time of 29.7 minutes, collecting an average ranking of 22.1. At that stage, Motiejunas shot an amazing 44.4% from the three-point line and hit free-throws at a very decent 75.5% accuracy. The only visible drawback was his turnovers – 2.5 per game, which is quite understandable for an 18-year-old, who has been given a very important role in the team’s game.

At the same age, Jonas Valanciunas already made his debut in the Euroleague and it was already his second season in the Lithuanian league. The main difference when comparing to Motiejunas is the overall team strength – Motiejunas played in a team with very little talent around him, while Valanciunas represented a much stronger team, which was defending the league’s title and was also playing in the Euroleague as well. Still, on a very strong roster, Valanciunas managed to collect 11.5 points and 7.3 boards per game also adding an of 1.8 blocks in 20.6 minutes – almost ten less than Motiejunas – per game averaging a 16.6 index rating. For a big man relying solely on his inside action – 66.8% FG – to collect points a 78.1% accuracy from the stripe was astonishing. The numbers don’t tell the full story as the difference in team strength is indescribable, but, even that aside, Valanciunas’ per minute index rating (.805) was a bit higher than Motiejunas’ (.744), who was playing for a much weaker team.

Although Valanciunas does indeed look like a brighter prospect, at times, it seems that Motiejunas gets too hard of a beating, but it is what it is. Both of the players will get a chance to prove their worth in the NBA and, perhaps, bring the tradition of Lithuanian basketball in the strongest basketball league back to life and spark an interest in the hearts of many basketball-crazy fans back home in Lithuania, who had been starting to forget what NBA means to the rest of the world.